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Larry's LogThe next day again, I was putting doors and miscellaneous things up that had been varnished. It took most of the day to get another large door and some locker doors done although I also went through the last of the stuff Diane had brought back. Although most of the order from West Marine was fine, the compass bulbs looked very wrong and the had substituted their own brand of polysulphide caulk for the 3M 101 I had requested, without telling Diane about it. They also were either out of stock or missed several other items. It was very annoying. Friday I didn't do a lot but did get to put the navigation station back together completely. Elias had finished putting 4 coats on the nav table itself and I put that back on in the afternoon. People were coming by through the day to pick up stuff Diane had brought back for them, little things like a dryer vent, some special vitamins and a pair of Tevas. Diane went shopping with Steph at Plaza Mayor, dropping off the laundry first and eating lunch there as well. I fended for myself for lunch, putting things away and finishing what I could. There was still plenty to do. One of the things I did was put up the new triple block for the outboard and also put up the new triple blocks for hoisting the dinghy. When Diane came back, I was anxious to try it out and it worked fine, making hoisting the 260-pound dinghy with outboard much easier. I was worried I might not have enough line, but there was just enough. Of course, it started to rain just as she came back, getting us both wet since I hoisted the dinghy. The triple blocks made it much easier, and the total purchase was 12:1, but Diane still had trouble hoisting it by herself. At least it was now easy for me. I announced on the weather the next morning that we had the first Atlantic hurricane of the season that was close to the Caribbean, Fabian. It wasn't very close yet and seemed to be pointed away from the Lesser Antilles, but you really can't tell - they can change directions very rapidly. I was busy in the morning doing some small things like putting things away and hanging the door to the forward head. It was the last large door left off the boat and now the only things left were the small locker doors that Elias was still varnishing. We made plans to go to the movies at Plaza Mayor with Tom and Steph and so we left around 2:30. We didn't take the dinghy since we were eating dinner out and would be back late. Taking a taxi was easier and not very expensive. We walked over to Mima and met Tom and Steph around 3 and got to Plaza Mayor and had some ice cream first then saw "Maldicion de La Perla Negra" (Curse of the Black Pearl) the new Disney movie based loosely on the famous ride Pirates of the Caribbean in DisneyWorld. It was good if not great. We got back to the boat around 9:30 after dinner and waiting about 20 minutes to get a taxi; the Saturday night traffic was terrible. I got up fairly early the next day and just did some things on the PC and then a bit later, decided to paint the board I had for the jerry jugs. I let that dry and put the chain hook on the new snubber line Diane had bought in the States. I wanted 5/8" twisted nylon instead of the ½" I had been using since I think the ½ inch line was stretching too much and chafed too much due to the stretch. The thicker line was stronger and would stretch less unless there was a really great strain on it. I finished splicing the line on and did another coat of paint on the board. Diane had gone to play dominoes at 1 and didn't come back until 4:30. Tom and Steph were coming over at around 5 to 5:30 to have a chili dinner. Diane had also made brownies that were really pretty good. They came over around 5:30 and we had a nice dinner and visited for a while. I reported on Hurricane Fabian Monday morning that it seemed to be turning towards the USVI - it might still turn north a bit but we would have to wait. Steph came over around 9 and brought over our laundry, which was very nice and then we waited for Elias to come. While it was still relatively cool, I finished putting on the replacement Treadmaster pads on the cockpit coamings. The old ones had become cracked and started to peel off - the sun really destroyed them. Also, George, from Irma La Douce Marine came over to pick up some hinges that seemed to be getting rusty again. He said he would re-chrome them and polish them himself to make sure they were done right, no extra charge. Thanks again, George. Afterward, we went to Plaza Mayor for lunch and to call my brother and Diane's parents. We got back to the boat around 2:30 and I didn't do much that afternoon since it looked like rain and we just went to the potluck BBQ later. Tuesday wasn't a very busy day although we were trying to get ready to leave in a week or so. In the morning, I was putting things away and taking inventory of what we had in the various lockers. I try to keep up with the inventory as its used or added but I sometimes don't and every so often I have to just empty everything and count. Sometimes I move things and then I really have to record it since once I put something away, and its been there for a while, I seem to always think of it as being there (but of course, it isn't). Diane did some hand laundry while I was doing the inventory and then I painted the jerry jug plank again while she did her inventory of the food and such on board. All this took most of the morning and at lunch we watched a video that Elias had brought. He was doing the doors still but they were almost done. Bruce and Marcia from Imajica had invited us for dinner that evening so we went over around 6. Diane made her sun-dried tomato dip. We met Jim and Christine from Twelfth Night who were also invited and we all had a very nice evening. Twelfth Night had come in a few days before with some severe engine/transmission problems but was making slow progress about getting it fixed. The next day was a very busy one for both of us. Diane went shopping in the morning to a large warehouse type store to start to buy provisions prior to leaving. While she was gone, I started installing a ball-valve in the forward head intake hose to prevent any future accidents like the one that happened a couple of weeks ago where the bowl filled up unnoticed and eventually overflowed. Of course, that meant removing all my tools and supplies from the forward head and under the sink. I got everything together, closed the seacock, flushed the toilet with fresh water and pumped everything dry, and finally managed to get the hose off the end of the fitting immediately before the hose to the head intake. I emptied the remaining water (not much) and after about an hour's work, got the new fitting installed. The existing hose was in good shape so I just cut it and inserted the new valve. After getting everything done, I put everything back and took inventory of the items below the sink while I was there. The next few days were really a whirlwind trying to get things done. Thursday through Sunday I managed to put more stuff away that Diane had brought back, rigged a way to hold the TV from falling since the original hold-downs had broken, finished my inventory, got diesel fuel, got outboard engine oil, helped Bruce get fuel, finished putting almost all the doors back on (hallelujah!) and seemed to get the weather fax working with Bruce's help. On this last point, although I could download weather reports and faxes from Winlink now, not everything was available through Winlink and it was very helpful to have another way of getting the weather information I needed. During this period, Elias did some Cetol on the handrails and the companionway teak. We had finished with the varnish, except for the cockpit table, and so had given up the rented storage room we had. It had been very useful. Of course, it was not all work. We had time to have dinner with Imajica, Twelfth Night and Mima at the El Ancla restaurant (the one at Bahia Redonda) and had drinks a few times with Tom and Steph. They had moved into a rented apartment for a couple of months. They were doing a tremendous amount to Mima and felt that this was much easier. Indeed it was - the interior of their boat was really torn apart between putting in new railings, fixing the hoses, replacing the chainplates and building new cabinets. Monday the work continued. Tom and I went to some hardware stores and I got some hinges that would work on the anchor locker door. The old ones were so badly rusted that I had to cut them off the jam. Tom, Steph and I then went to lunch at a French place at Amerigo Vespuccio marina - my dish and Steph's were OK but Tom didn't eat his at all. We then had some coffee at CMO and then I went back to Destiny. I hung the anchor locker door, although I had to place the hinges at the bottom rather than the side since there wasn't room for them next to the shelving. I added a finger latch and a safety catch and some weatherstripping. All the doors were now completed. Elias was still working for us and did another coat of Clear Cetol on the companionway and also some general cleaning. Finally, I put away the remainder of the purchases and we went to the potluck that evening. The marina had started to fill up and it was very crowded in the space that we had. Almost "standing room only". The next day was more preparations. I went and got outboard oil from Maremares and the fuel ticket from Amerigo Vespucci marina. I went back to the boat and got the jerry jugs and got 4 jugs of fuel - 109 liters for 5000 Bs (works out to about 7 cents per gallon). Diane had gone shopping so I took the opportunity and I took everything out of the aft cabin and put stuff away under the aft cabin berth. I rearranged things and did an inventory of several lockers and put MORE things away. Elias did a last coat of varnish on the cockpit table and Orient Canvas finally came to take measurements for the air conditioner cover. I was doing my inventory for several hours when Diane came back but went shopping again with Jim from Twelfth Night to Plaza Mayor. As I was doing the inventory, I came across some things that I didn't need or want anymore. I got it all together to hopefully sell at the swap meet this Saturday. Wednesday I crossed a large (relatively) project off the list - I went up mast. That took several hours since I took off the spreader boots, checked everything, greased the wires, checked the lights, checked the masthead, took off the old running backstays and cleaned the track for the main on the mast. I was pretty tired after that. Elias had cranked me up for the most part since Diane was doing other things, but since I would be at a certain point for a while he could continue his work. I would just call out "arriba" (up) or "abajo" (down) and it worked quite well. After a rest though, I put the fuel in the jerry jugs into the main tank, put stuff away in starboard cockpit locker, and reassembled the cockpit table and hung it on the pedestal guard. That took to about 5pm. Tom ands Steph invited us out to dinner but we were both too tired. During the day, when I could catch up, Diane said she had made some calls to see if we could get a fax of our US documentation - I couldn't find the new document Diane brought back with her from the States. Tom and Steph stopped over later and we visited a bit - they're having tremendous problems with CMO - the railings and the "free" paint job. Thursday, September 11, 2003 It's been 2 years since the WTC disaster. It was strange to remember the events of that terrible day. We were both busy however. In the morning I started getting things ready to leave so I put up the Lifesling, got the MOB pole on, moved the solar panels to where they belonged on the rails, checking and cleaning the connections first and then rigging the new boom preventer. I also attached the board for the jerry jugs to the starboard stanchions with U-bolts to try it out. Finally, Diane had brought back some new ½" double braid so I put a small eye splice in one end (thanks to Brion Toss' book and splicing wand) and set it up on some blocks I had. The splice wasn't hard but was time consuming - almost an hour. It was a 3:1 purchase so it should be powerful enough to get some decent tension on it. If not, I have other blocks that I can rig for 4:1 if necessary. Of course, I cleaned the blocks with stainless cleaner before I put the new line on (funny how even small projects lead to others). I placed the large gasoline jugs near the tie down board and also one of the diesel jugs that was full. I needed to get the other 3 filled since I had used those to fill the main tank. Strangely, around 4, the wind really picked up from the west. A large thunderstorm came in and it blew pretty hard for a while, causing all the boats to really bounce around. In our position, we were blown against the dock and I had to adjust the fenders a bit but we were fine. It gusted to about 35 knots - quite strong, particularly for a marina used to winds from the East at less than 20. I also took in some of the canvas that was just lying on the deck waiting to be cleaned and waterproofed again. Diane had gone shopping with Chris from Twelfth Night and had come back around 3 with lots of stuff. Fortunately, it was all below by the time the wind and rain started. In the evening, we went over to Tom and Steph's apartment and ordered some pizza from Dominoes - pretty good. |